Bible Encyclopedias
Scandinavian Civilization

7. - FIBULIE. Earlier and later forms, Bronze Age, Norway.

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TOP OF A Small Bronze Casket. Latter part of earlier Bronze Age.

Photo, B. S. 1'ini Potts. g. - Part Of A Rock Carving (the grooves are filled in with chalk). Bronze Age.

ro. G, shoving man ploughing.

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Rock Carvings. Sweden, Later Bronze Age.

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Bronze Clasp. Later Bronze Age, Norway.

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Fibula Roman Period. 5. - FibulaE. Period of National Migrations, Denmark. 6. - Iron Pins. Pre-Roman Period, Denmark.

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Bronze Trumpet. Denmark, Later Bronze Age.

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Torque. Denmark, Later Bronze Age.

.2. - Bronze Hanging Vessel. Later Bronze Age.

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Gold Collar. First period of Later Iron Age.

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Bronze Plate For A Belt, showing Animal Figures. Post-Roman Period.

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Gold Bracteate, "barbarian" imitation of a Roman Coin. First period of Later Iron Age, Sweden.

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Brooch. Post-Roman Period. Denmark.

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Brooch Set With Garnets. Post-Roman Period, Denmark.

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Silver Gilt Brooch (length over g inches).

Period of National Migrations, Norway.

Figs. I, 3 -6, 8, g, it from S. Muller, Vor Oldtid; Figs. 2, 7, 12 from O. Montelius, Civ. Sweden; Fig. so from G. Gustafson, Norges Oldtid. Traces of dwelling-houses with hearth-places show that the usual form was a round or slightly oval hut, constructed of wattles, plastered inside and out with clay. The floor was usually partly or entirely paved.

The Bronze Age. - Towards the close of the Later Stone Age a few objects of copper are found in the North. Copper is, however, soon superseded by bronze, which was probably imported ready alloyed into Scandinavia, though the special Scandinavian forms, as well as the presence of a number of moulds, conclusively prove that the casting of the metal was done in the North. It is supposed that the Bronze Age, which can be divided into two main periods, began in Scandinavia about2000-1750B.C. The earliest implements are clearly copies of the Stone Age work, betraying the ignorance of the makers as to the adaptability of the new material. Some bronze axes are exactly the shape of stone axes, but gradually we see the blade grow wider, the neck narrower, the outer sides of the haft turn back over the wooden shaft, which is still cloven, and finally before the end of the earlier period we have the "socketed celt," in which the tongue has disappeared and the wooden shaft is fixed in a cylinder of bronze, with a metal loop at the side through which the fastening passed. The unsocketed celt has also undergone modifications. By the end of the earlier period swords have been evolved from daggers, and brooches and clasps, besides beautiful vases and hanging vessels, are made of the metal. Gold is also known and used. Fine linear decoration, usually in spirals or zig-zags, is applied. The forms are extremely artistic, and the technique higher than in almost any other European country. Perhaps the most magnificent relic of this earlier period is the bronze "sun-chariot" and horse from Trundholm in Seeland. The disk supposed to represent the sun is overlaid with gold and beautifully decorated with spiral designs. The later period is clearly marked off from the earlier by the method of disposing of the dead, since in the earlier period the dead were still buried unburned, often in stone cists or oak coffins, while in the latter period cremation was practised, and the remains placed in small stone or wooden boxes, or in plain earthenware urns. Some of these urns are clearly imitations of the house of the period, and show that it was still round in form. The graves are covered by a cairn or mound. Miniature weapons are often found in the urns, but the objects placed in or beside the urn reveal little care in their selection: it is obvious that a few gifts were deposited with the dead, rather than the complete outfit of necessaries which are found in earlier periods. During this period decoration becomes more complicated: the spirals are often fringed with tangential lines, and the ends of knives, rings, &c., are frequently rolled up into spiral volutes. Bands of wavy lines are a common form of ornament. Amber and a dark-brown resinous matter are often inlaid. Ornaments show a tendency to exaggeration of size, as is seen in the massive neck and arm-rings, the brooches, pins and clasps.

We are fortunate in knowing more about the Scandinavian Bronze Age than the mere remains, plentiful though they are, could tell us. In some parts of Sweden and Norway rude carvings on bare granite rocks, executed in a stiff and conventional style, have been identified as belonging to this period, and from these, in combination with the finds, we can deduce a considerable fund of information. Horses were used for riding, driving and ploughing. From the impress left on earthenware vessels we find that wheat, barley and oats were cultivated. Large boats, almost invariably without mast or sail, are very frequently depicted. The human figures on the carvings are unfortunately represented in such a primitive manner that little could be kn6wn of the details of their clothing but for some unique finds in Denmark, where the oak coffins of the earlier period have preserved hair and clothing for over 3000 years. Thus we know that the garb of the Bronze Age man consisted of a thick glossy cap, replaced by a helmet in time of war, a woollen tunic which left the shoulders bare, a cloak and leather shoes fastened on by strips of cloth crossed up the ankle. A buckle for the belt, pins for the cloak, and one bracelet were his only ornaments. From the small bronze knife and the tweezers found in men's graves it has been deduced that shaving was usual, and a small pointed instrument also found in the graves is regarded as evidence for tattooing. The women wore a fine hair net and comb, a curiously clumsily-cut bodice with sleeves to the elbow, and a long skirt gathered round the waist by a belt with a large ornament in front. A heavy necklace, two bracelets and a dagger appear to XXIV. 10 have been usual. The people were tall and had light hair. With regard to the distribution of Bronze Age finds, it may be said that Gotaland, Skane and the district round Stockholm yield the richest harvest in Sweden, while in Norway the mass of finds are in the Christiania and the Stavanger districts. A notable feature of the period is the number of finds made in bogs. Many were clearly buried there for safe keeping, but others are usually explained as votive offerings.

Iron Age. - The approximate date for the first beginnings of this period in the North is still a matter of controversy; Montelius placing it at about 500 B.C., while Sophus Muller, of Denmark, would put it at least a century and a half later. It has been divided into four main subdivisions, of which the first, lasting till about the beginning of our era, is usually called the Pre-Roman Period. The beginnings of this age are most clearly traced on the island of Bornholm, where cemeteries are found containing from 10 to r000 graves. These graves, called Brandpletter, are closely similar to the contemporary graves on the Continent, and consist of burnt bones embedded in charcoal and black mould. In this are found iron brooches (of the safetypin type), buckles and a few fragments of pottery. More typically Northern cemeteries show small mounds covering each grave, in which an urn contains the burnt bones. These graves also yield but few remains, and the wealth of objects from this period come from bog and field finds, as for instance some magnificent chariots, overlaid with decorated bronze plates, from a bog near RingkjObing, Denmark. Ornaments were usually of massive bronze or occasionally of iron, and gold seems to have been comma paratively scarce, perhaps owing to the disturbed state of central Europe. All but the very beginning of the period shows the influence of the La-Tene civilization. The succeeding Roman period begins in the 1st century A.D. and extends, according to Swedish and Norwegian archaeologists, to about 400. In Denmark the latter half of the period is termed that of "National Migrations." A number of Roman objects are found - coins, glass and bronze vessels, &c. From the fact that Skane, Bornholm, bland and Gotland are the chief finding-places, it appears that most of the objects must have been brought, through war or trade, from the south-east, by way of the great trade-route along the Vistula. Gotland alone has yielded nearly four thousand Roman coins, while Bornholm equals the whole of the rest of Denmark with 500, and Norway has only yielded three. A certain number of Roman objects seem, however, to have reached Denmark from the Rhine Provinces. The graves show a variety new to Scandinavia: in some parts cremation continues to be practised, in other localities, notably in Jutland and Seeland, inhumation reappears. Characteristic of both forms of burial is the practice of placing a number of vessels containing food and drink in the grave. Weapons are seldom found in graves, but a complete knowledge of them is afforded by such finds as that at Thorsbjerg in Schleswig and Vimose in Funen, the latter yielding no less than 3500 objects to the National Museum. These are the debris of great battlefields from about the 4th century, and it is usually supposed that the victors dedicated the spoil to some god, as everything was left almost untouched.

From this ample evidence we learn that the spear or lance was the most common weapon, and after that the sword, used now for striking as well as thrusting, and with a short cross-piece. The hilt is often superbly decorated, frequently with silver, which is now much used. Coats of ring-mail are found. Helmets and shields are extraordinarily thin, almost flimsy, possibly in imitation of the inferior Roman goods of the period, possibly in the case of the shields, at any rate, because they were only intended to protect from arrows or spears flung from a distance, or because dependence was mainly placed on the strength of the boss. Numbers of bits and other fragments of harness prove the use of horses in war. A similar find at Nydam in Schleswig yielded two of the oldest boats that have come down to us: one of oak, 75 ft. long, built for 28 rowers, and another of firwood. The timbers were fastened with iron nails, but some early boats from Norway and Sweden show a more primitive method of attaching the timbers with fastenings of baste.

Besides the deserted battlegrounds, the more usual type of votive offering is found, such as the silver cauldron from Gundestrup, or the two magnificent gold horns, one more than 2 ft. in length, discovered at Gallehus in Schleswig. Further indications of religious customs are afforded by a curious find in Jutland, where between 20 and 30 earthenware vessels each contained a slaughtered lamb. With these were found remains of rude altars.

Of domestic arts, weaving and dyeing seem to have been carried to a high degree of perfection. The art of pottery has also advanced, especially in Jutland, where we find a multiplicity of forms, with decoration in bands of slanting lines. It was during this period that the Scandinavians acquired the Runic alphabet from the southern Germanic tribes. The specifically Northern variant of this alphabet does not appear till later. Inscriptions from this period, cut into stone monuments, are found in Norway and Sweden.

The next period (the first of the Later Stone Age), called in Denmark the Post-Roman, and in Sweden and Norway the "Period of National Migrations," brings us from A.D. 400 to about 700. In Denmark these centuries are very obscure, owing to the fact that the graves there are usually difficult to find, being without mounds and unfurnished with goods. Bornholm, where inhumation is greatly on the increase, is again the chief centre for grave-finds. Some few graves contain the personal equipment of the dead: sword, spear, axe, shield, knife and whetstone, and occasionally the skeletons of horse and dog. The vessels for food and drink are no longer found. At Old Upsala, Vendel and Ultuna, all in Upland, great interest attaches to the first ship-graves. These become common in Norway, fairly frequent in Sweden, and even in Finland, but only one grave containing remains of a boat has so far been found in Denmark. The details of the earlier Swedish ship-burials are somewhat obscured for us because the ship and all its contents have been burnt, but we can see that in these the dead man sits at the stern, as if about to set forth on a journey, while in later graves of the Viking Period, both burnt and unburnt, the corpse seems to have been laid on a bed in a chamber built amidships for the purpose. All the larger ship-burials are remarkable for the large number of animal bones found, including those of horses, oxen, pigs, sheep and fowls.

The gold ornaments of the period are its chief glory: indeed the wealth of gold, especially in Sweden, has suggested the title "Gold Age" for these centuries. The favourite ornaments of the period were the so-called bracteates, worn as pendants, and imitated from Roman coins, but often stamped on one side only and decorated in the Northern style. Magnificent brooches of engraved or filigree work, some with a plate at the hinge end at right angles to the pin, others oval, often representing an animal seen from above, are among the finest productions of the time. The decoration of conventionalized animal forms is a marked feature, and, though characteristic of all the Germanic races at this time, is best executed in the north. When worked in filigree the animals' limbs become more and more attenuated and snake-like, or, on the other hand, when engraved, show less and less connexion with each other, but the artist's aim, a good decorative effect, is attained, even though there is a certain barbaric absence of restraint in design.

In the Viking Age, from about Boo to the introduction of Christianity in the 10th and lath centuries, Norway, hitherto the poorest in antiquities, springs into prominence. A wealth of objects is found in the graves, and especially in some of the larger ship-graves, such as those of Gokstad, Tune, Myklebostad and Oseberg (also in the Norwegian ship-grave at Groix, Brittany). Fortunately a number of these ships are unburnt, and in view of the importance of seafaring in the Viking Age, it is worth noting that a mast with square sail of woollen material is common. One ten-oared vessel from this period is of exactly the same build as those used to this day in the district where it was excavated. A number of shield bosses are often found in the vessels, and it is clear that shields were hung round the bulwarks exactly as Icelandic sources describe. The prow and stern-post are often beautifully carved. Sometimes the remains of as many as 12 horses are found in one of these graves, besides those of a number of dogs. The presence of anvils, pincers and other tools, as well as weapons and ornaments, is noteworthy, indicating that the art of metal-work was held in esteem even among chiefs, as indeed is known from literary sources. During this period, moreover, iron ore was extracted, smelted and worked in Scandinavia. The weapons found are swords, knives, sickles, battle-axes, spears and arrows. The sword is two-edged, with a wooden hilt often beautifully decorated with silver. The axe is very broad-bladed, and evidently of great importance, being often the only weapon found in graves. Helmets and coats of mail are not found in Norway, but are comparatively common in Sweden.

We owe much of our knowledge of this period to the unburnt burials which were fortunately usual. In Denmark grave-chambers of wood, such as those at Jellinge, stand nearest to the ship-graves. In Sweden the great number of graves surrounding the ancient town of Birka (mod. Bjurk&), should be noticed. Most graves have a round, oblong or triangular howe raised over them. A feature of the period are the tall, rudely-hewn bauta-stones, set up over graves containing burnt bones, or sometimes merely to the memory of the dead. Large upright stones are sometimes set round a grave in a circle, or in the shape of a ship, with pointed bow and stern. It is noticeable that the graves are often in close proximity to the modern cemeteries. In this period women are also occasionally buried in a boat or ship, as in the case of one of the finest ship-graves, that at Oseberg. Women's graves often contain splendid ornaments, though gold and silver are rare in grave-finds, and the large ovalheaded pins and the oblong or trefoil-shaped clasps found in them are usually of bronze, while in other finds silver ornaments are common. Silver is as characteristic of this period as gold of the preceding one, Denmark alone yielding no less than 25 important silver finds, some of them consisting of necklaces of very fine filigree work, or of dexterously woven silver wires. The style of decoration is the same as the preceding period, but bolder, less refined and often heavy. Ornaments are often set with garnets. The influence of Irish art is discernible, as in the spirals which terminate the limbs of the animal forms, and in the frequent interlacing designs; and we are not surprised to find a number of objects of Irish manufacture in Norway. On the other hand, English leaf decoration is imitated, and Carolingian models appear to have served for certain grotesque forms, such as dragons, winged lions, &c. Sweden shows the same influences at work, though the Swedes still had most dealings with the eastern Baltic countries, and with the Scandinavian kingdom of Novgorod. "Cufic" coins, struck in Persia and Turkestan, are found together with those of Germany and England. It is clear proof of Gorland's commercial importance that it is still the richest treasure-ground in this respect, even for English coins. Evidence for the eastern communications of Sweden is afforded by Runic inscriptions, some of which state that the chief whom the stone commemorates fell in Finland or Esthonia. Runic inscriptions with the later, entirely Northern alphabet are now common all over Scandinavia. The stones, especially the later Swedish ones, are often carved with spiral and animal designs, and some represent mythical scenes such as the adventures of Sigurd Fafnisbane, depicted on a stone from Sodermannland. The houses of this period were usually built of wood, and consisted, as we know from literary evidence, of a large hall with various outbuildings. The descriptions in Icelandic sagas of tapestry hangings are borne out by the discovery of traces of hangings in grave-chambers, especially those at Jellinge in Denmark. Some fragments of cloth, showing designs in various colours, testify to a considerable degree of skill in weaving, and figured silk material is found in some of the ship-graves. Traces of feather mattresses and wooden beds are found in some of these graves, and dice and playing-pieces resembling draughtsmen frequently occur. The remains of humbler dwellings have been found, some of them resembling a type of cottage still to be seen in southern Sweden, built of wattles, plastered inside and out.

Another feature of the Viking Age consists in the great earthworks, many of them standing to this day. Such are the famous Danevirke, stretching right across Schleswig, the work of Queen Thyra, who lies in one of the great howes at Jellinge, and the so-called bygdeborge in Norway, some of which are assigned to Viking times.

Authorities. -O. Montelius, Kulturgeschichte Schwedens von den eiltesten Zeiten (Leipzig, 1906). An earlier Swedish edition of this book has been translated into English by F. H. Woods: Civilization of Sweden in Heathen Times (London, 1888); S. Muller, Nordische Alterthumskunde; Deutsche Ausgabe, von 0. L. Jiriczek (Strassburg, 1897), and Ordnung of Danmarks Oldsager, Systeme Prehistorique du Danemark (Copenhagen and Paris); J. J. Worsaae, The Industrial Arts of Denmark (London, 1882); G. Gustafson, Norges Oldtid (Christiania, 1906); O. Rygh, Norwegian Antiquities (French and Norwegian text) (London and Christiania, 1880); A. Hansen, Landnam i Norge (Christiania, 1904); E. Vedel, Bornholms Oldtidsminder (Copenhagen, 1886); J. Undset, Das Erste Auftreten des Eisens in Nord-Europa; J. Mestorf, Urnenfriedhofe in Schleswig-Holstein (Hamburg, 1886) and Vorgeschichtliche Alterthiimer aus Schleswig-Holstein (Hamburg, 1885); B. Salin, Die altgermanische Thierornamentik, iibersetzt von J. Mestorf (Stockholm, 1904). Also articles by the above, and by H. Schetelig, H. Hildebrand, H. Stolpe and others, in various periodicals, especially Bergens Museums Aarbog (Bergen), Aarsberetninger fra Foreningen til norske Fortidsmindesmaerkers Bevaring (Christiania), Aarboger for nordisk Oldkyndighed (Copenhagen), Antiqvarisk Tidskrift for Sverige (Stockholm), the Manadsblad of the Kgl. Vitterhets Historie och Antiqvitets Akademie (Stockholm), Fornviinnen, published since 1906 by the same society, Svenska Fornminnesforeningens Tidskrift (Stockholm), Ymer (Stockholm). The guides to the various Scandinavian museums are of great value. Some of them can be obtained in English. The importance of the Kiel Museum, with its a. - Typical Motif, Animal Form And Snake, from bronze clasp. Viking Age, Denmark.

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PAR1 THE Oseberg Viking Ship. Norway. Pho'o lent by Prof. G. H. Gustafson. 4

- OAK Carving From The Gokstad Ship. Viking Age, Norway.

5. - Gold Spur. ¦ iking Age, Nosivay.

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AXE Inlaid With Silver. Viking Age, Denmark.

Gilt Bronze Knob For Harness. Viking Age, Norway.

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Bone Playing Piece.

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Runic Stone, from Jellinge, Jutland, showing Christian influence.

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Scenes From The Life Of Sigurd And Runic Inscription. Viking Age, Sweden.

g.--S1LVER "THOR'S HAMMER." Viking Age, Sweden. ro. - BROOCH. Viking Age, Norway. Figs. r, 2, 8, from S. Mdiler, Vor Oldtid; Figs. 3, 4, S, 6, ro from G. Gustafson, Norges Oldtid; Figs. y, g from 0. Montelius, Civ. Swed. 'guide' by J. Mestorf, Vorgeschichtliche Alterthumer aus SchleswigHolstein, should not be overlooked. The Saga Book of the Viking Club (London) contains excellent articles, chiefly by H. Schetelig and H. Kjaer. (B. S. P.)

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